Amabilis
by butaneandthebeast
Summary: A short what-if, where Kyouko is a princess and Ren a fairy prince. An utter AU with nothing to do with anything even remotely recent in the manga, so please read without fear of being spoilt Written for the 2015 Skip Beat Secret Santa thing
1. A Drop in the Bucket

Since she was young, she had had many rules imposed on her. As a princess, rules came as a hard and fast package. Rules on how to speak, rules on how to act, rules on how to eat, rules on how to greet. Rules on how well she had to do in her education, and rules on how well she had to do at social occasions. Everyone from the scullery maid up to her mother had set a veritable bouquet of rules on her. From her father though, she had received only one rule. One rule in a vague memory that, if for not of her utter belief in the fact that it had occurred- that she had stood, a dripping girl of five, as her father hugged her close regardless of how wet she was getting him- she would have thought a lie.

"You must not go into The Forest."

There was no question as to what forest was being referred to. The Forest was the forest that stood on the edge of the castle, an arboreal moat that divided the palace from the mountains that surrounded it on three sides. Legends of it had been prominent for as long as there had been people to know of its existence. But of course, these rumours were far to coarse for the ears of royalty, and thus, that was about as much about The Forest that Kyouko ever knew. Her gilded prison never gave her a chance to explore The Forest, and being out of sight, it stayed out of mind, much to the pleasure of everyone around her.

But then came the announcement. The proclamation had informed not only the country, but also her, that she was to betrothed to the neighbouring little prince. Once upon a time she would have been amazed, ecstatic, but she had been around the prince far too long to feel any of those emotions.

It wasn't exactly that he was bad. It wasn't even that she couldn't see herself with him. She could if she squinted hard enough, and god knew that if there was one thing that had been instilled into her from her lessons it was that marriages were rarely borne out of love. She knew the kingdom was barely eking out an existence, tiny as it was, and that a political marriage would be manna from heaven.

No. It was the sheer discourtesy of it all.

She had expected to hear of her own marriage from her handmaiden. Mayhaps catch clips of whispers amongst the housekeeping. Not have it blurted out by a breathless man carrying a bugle while addressing the entire nation.

She had barely managed to keep her expression unchanged. She kept smiling as she smiled and waved to the gathered audience. She kept smiling as various members of peerage bustled to her to congratulate her on her happiness. She kept smiling as she was handed from handmaiden to handmaiden back to her own cramped quarters. She kept smiling as she requested for some time alone to nap. She kept smiling as she shucked off the fancy gown she put on for public appearances, one that the kingdom could barely afford. She kept smiling as she threw a ragged nightdress that by all rights she shouldn't have and one that was far too small for her. She kept smiling as she shimmied out the window and down the rose vines that drooped with the weight of their scented burdens, breathing in the scent as she repeatedly told herself that it would be fine, just fine.

She stopped smiling at the first prick. Even though she had miraculously managed to avoid being stung by the myriad thorns protecting their blossoming charges, somehow, once she had one foot safely on the ground, a lone thorn had pricked the sole of her foot.

The tears came unbidden, even though she did not stop moving. She ran, eyes blinded, until she was out of breath and her knees knocked and folded under her, and she realised that she could use her hands to wipe away her tears. It was only then that she saw that she was at the edge of a lake, and that she had broken the only rule her father had ever set to her.

And then she blinked, and when she opened her eyes again, he was there.

He reached out and brushed away stray tears, and she had the strange, strange feeling that he had done this before, that they had done this before.

He quirked his lips and cocked his head, an unspoken question. What happened this time?

She shook her head from side to side, but her body betrayed her, and she found herself recounting whatever had happened, start to finish, without leaving out anything. His hand had progressed from wiping her tears to patting her head, his large, delicate wings fanning cold air with a small spray of water onto his face. Once she had finished, he had only looked down on her with a smile, but somehow it was as if that smile was magic, healing every cut her grievances had dug into her.

"Did they say whom to?"

"Who-?" Then she caught his meaning, and shook his head. "No. They simply said that a royal wedding was to take place for me."

He held out a hand, helping her to her feet as he himself got up, pulling her close to him in the process. "Well then, things can still be fixed."

Once again, she shook her head. "No, the kingdom needs a political marriage, an alliance. And alliances are useless if not made with the correct parties." She quoted from memory the gist of many lessons.

"That's exactly what we'll be counting on, won't we?" He smiled at her, the expression even more dazzling at this small a distance, and his sentence ended abruptly, almost as if he had caught himself short of calling her something. "This time," he said, voice fanning her ear, "I save you." He took in a deep breath, as if he wanted to inhale her whole form. "And I think it would be the perfect way to make good on our promise."

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A/N: Thank you for reading thus far! I've written this as a gift for the-solitaire-flamingo over at tumblr for the 2015 skip beat secret santa~ I have this issue where I don't know how or where to stop, and thus no story every stays short. Everything becomes nothing short of an epic to rival the ring cycle, and really, putting that to paper would take me far beyond the deadline.

But, if you think you would like to see a continuation of this, let me know. I will endeavour to add to it if inspiration does strike~~ For now, I just wanted to make Kyouko the princess he is, and let Ren be fairy boy that heals all (although tbh I'm quite put off by some recent antics of his).

As usual, the thirst for pretty comments is quite real~~~


	2. Sunk Far Too Deep

Ren never went to the lake, even though it was one of the most beautiful of the princely estates. Whenever asked, he would evade, muttering about how things needed to be done and how he was far, far too busy to be dallying at a lake, no matter how scenic.

So when the Prince announced with the same decisiveness that marked all his other decisions that he would be visiting the lake today- yes, alone, no he did not need to be accompanied, and yes he was sure- a murmur ran up and down the whole palace with such alacrity that it put forest fires to shame.

He did not mention that he felt something tug at his heart like a hand, a small hand, one he felt he should be intimately acquainted with, had reached in and grabbed hold and refused to let go until he decided, somehow, out of the blue, that he would visit the lake. Then the hand let go, patting his heart like he did to the dogs that guarded the sheep that stayed next to the palace's kitchens. Nothing but the freshest for the Prince, after all.

So Ren wasn't particularly surprised when he saw a girl in a tattered nightgown crying at the edge of the lake. Heart wrenching sobs that, with a sinking feeling Ren knew he would soon have frequently in his life, made him feel like he should stop, before they stopped him. So he walked purposefully up to the girl, much like he had a decade past, and gently hugged her, making her momentarily cease weeping. He wiped back tears, fanning water onto her face with his wings; letting her know she was safe. He looked at her face, letting his eyes ask what was wrong, as if there was a spell that would be broken with his voice. Only when she finished explaining that he heard himself speaking, and much to his surprise, heard himself promising things that his brain had not fully acquiesced to.

Not that he minded. He would have said the same thing no matter whether he was at the peak or trough of his sanity- it was just the instinctiveness, the speed, that he found himself surprised at. And a bit alarmed, if truth was to be told.

Next thing he knew, he had kissed her hair, and was picking her up, holding her in his arms and taking her back with him to his palace.

In his defence, she hadn't refused.

When he set her down on the chaise lounge in his room, she finally showed signs of recognition.

"K... Kuon?" She asked, gently brushing her fingers down his face like she was sure she was hallucinating. He wanted to grab her fingers when they left his face, but he settled for smiling and nodding, pleasure erupting in his chest as a smile bloomed on face, one of pure happiness, childlike and utterly innocent.

"But I'm not called that anymore." He told her.

"Why?" She cocked her head to the side in confusion.

"Because the Crown Prince gets a courtesy name." He explained.

She nodded in comprehension. "Like me," she smiled, "Except all they did was change the spelling of my name." She suddenly changed tracks, looking down at the silken rug at her feet rather than his face. "What did you mean when you said that... you would make it all better?"

He opened his mouth to answer, but saw that she wasn't quite done. "About... before... it was nothing. You don't have to feel like you owe me or anything. Anyone else would have done the same." The words tumbled out of her mouth faster and faster, and his smile wider. He refrained from pointing out that no one else had done the same.

"I am not doing this out of obligation, Kyoko." She looked back at his face again. "It sounds... bizarre. I know. But I like you." He was careful to refrain from saying that love would be a more appropriate word for that sentence. "I think that you will like me too. At least, once you get a chance to know me. Better than the Prince you're nearly betrothed to." There was a faint flush on her cheeks, one that spurred him to keep on talking. "And it's not just... wishes and feelings. An alliance between our countries would be much more prosperous than any other. I will tell your father as much."

"Not my father," she murmured, "my grandfather."

"Your grandfather then."

"But- but are you sure you like me? I don't even have wings." She implored.

He shook his head. "Wings.. at least wings like mine... are not much more than ornaments. They couldn't help me when I needed them most. Only you did." He stopped himself short, scared that he would say too much and frighten her away, scared that he would voice that she was much more beautiful than the finest wings, that she was perfect with or without them. "Now, let's get you home."

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A/N: By popular (?) request, here's a chapter 2. I think things are shaping out so that this might end up being either 3 or 4 chapters, though it's too soon to say ^^ As usual, I am a glutton for comments, and you all leave such pretty, delicious ones.


	3. Breaching for Air

A/N: I am extremely sorry for the delay. Unfortunately, real life popped it's ugly head, it took me a while till I could get to this. I cherish each and every comment of encouragement and praise that you have left me (I've actually made a pdf of it, and look at it when I need motivation... no, I'm not creepy at all, ok.)

Anyhow, sorry for this chapter not being as long as the others, but I figured one short update was better than none. One more chapter to go, and since I'm bent on making this an even four chapters (four i such a pretty number, my favourite), the next chapter is sure to be a long one~

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He stood in front of the regent, and all he could think of was how a Prince's legs were most definitely not supposed to buckle. Any royalty was intimidating, Ren knew. It came as part of the job, and if you didn't have it borne into you by the years of demanding things of people, you were taught to have it. To radiate it. But this was so much more. A nearly blasphemous thought came to him, one comparing his father and the regent, but he quickly washed it from his brain, bleached every inkling of it away. He had often suspected his father capable of reading thoughts, and this was not how he had wanted his theory to be confirmed.

His thoughts were broken then, thankfully, and he became acutely aware that he was standing in a foreign court, in front of a foreign king regent, holding onto the aforementioned regent's granddaughter in a clasp, when viewed by the common bystander, would only be called intimate. Oh, the granddaughter, not to put too fine a point on it, who was to be future queen.

"What have you requested an audience with us for?" The regent asked.

"Your Royal Highness Lory," Ren made what would have been a textbook bow if not for the fact that he didn't let go of Kyouko's arm still. "I am here to ask for your granddaughter's hand in marriage." There. It was done. And he was prepared for the worst. He just hoped that the quaking in his boots was not obvious.

"Why do you come at this time." Good, questions were good, questions he could answer.

"Because I recently heard that the princess is to be engaged, and knew that if I didn't act now, it would be too late." His words were firm, resolute. How they came out that way he would never know.

"What can you offer us that is better than the rest?"

"I won't insult Your Majesty's intelligence by telling you what you know far better than I." Lory gave a small smile at the subtle cheek before turning to Kyoko.

"What about you, my dear? After all, this is your hand that I shall betroth."

"I am willing, as long as I have your blessings."

"Something tells me you're more than willing, my blessings notwithstanding."

She had the grace to blush, by she did not dispute the allegation, and this gave hope newfound to Ren, who, if before this had been wondering whether he was doing the right thing, now knew with all certainty that he was. And any doubts that she had, he vowed silently, he would vanquish.


End file.
